Page 20 - Strategic Marketing Complete

MEET THE CMO

to walk the talk when it comes to paid, 10-15% earned; only about 5%
living their brands, the big banks are is our own channels such as social A career
facing other challenges too. These media and website platforms. That’s
include a lack of agility due to their ridiculously low,” she observes. with variety
sheer size, plus a cost structure
which Nobanda describes as “We need to get our owned media
“sometimes prohibitive”. The cost- channels to perform a lot better. Why is marketing a great career
to-income ratios for both Nedbank Social media is an example: we have to pursue? Nobanda believes
and Standard Bank, for example, only about 100 000 followers, yet the enormous variation is what
are above 60%. By comparison, the we have 7-million customers. We makes it exciting.
figure for challenger brand Capitec can do better. We are not interesting
is below 50%. enough. So, we are doing two things: • “When I was a 23-year-old
beefing up the social media team brand manager for Smirnoff
But there are opportunities too. At and ensuring that we have the Vodka, I used to say to
the lower end of the market, where capability to quickly generate our people: ‘I don’t know why
consumers are unbanked or tend to own content internally.” they pay me to do this job;
I’m having so much fun’. For
me, it’s amazing that you
in under a minute you can open a can create something that
influences people and how
bank account on your cell phone and they think. The week after
that, you could be in Durban
your cell number becomes your bank attending the Loeries.
With that sort of variety,
account number. why wouldn’t you love
marketing?”

use only the most basic of banking would-be astronaut Know the
services, Nedbank has recently Although she’s enjoyed a varied
launched its MobiMoney product. marketing career, Nobanda’s context
original professional aspirations
“In under a minute you can open were somewhat different. Born Nobanda’s advice to young
a bank account on your cell phone in exile in Swaziland to a father marketers is to ensure they
and your cell number becomes your who was a member of Umkhonto appreciate how marketing fits
bank account number,” Nobanda weSizwe (MK) and a school teacher into the overall context of the
enthuses. “We have looked at how mother, she originally wanted to business.
people at this level of the market be an astronaut as it “looked really
want to use a bank account – it’s to cool”. • “Never think of marketing
buy data, pay electricity, transfer as just pretty pictures,” she
money etc. So, it’s a very simple and Later she harboured aspirations to urges. “The minute you do
basic account. We see this as a big be a lawyer and only stumbled upon that, you will never consider
opportunity to get new people into marketing while in her second year the big-picture things like
the Nedbank brand and we hope at university. “I was already studying ROI. From the outset, make
that, as their situation improves, they information systems, and someone sure you are thinking about
will stay with the bank and use other, suggested that marketing would suit how you can have an impact
more traditional, banking products.” me. I soon realised that it was what I on the business.
wanted to do,” she recalls.
Digital media is also an • “Certainly, it is a skill to
exploitable opportunity. While What’s the appeal of marketing for create great advertising
digital is enabling the disruption her? “I love the balance between briefs and to get agencies
of the banking status quo, it is logic and creativity. I love data, to do great work. But if you
simultaneously creating new ways numbers, thinking about where the believe that’s all there is to
for the likes of Nedbank to engage opportunity lies and planning for marketing, you’re not going
with consumers. market growth and how to increase to reach the heights.”
market share. But I also love that a
“Currently our ratio of paid media lot of things we do in order to grow
to earned and owned media is 80% market share are very creative. Continued on page 20

p18 - Strategic Marketing